Custodis
by Lammybug
Summary: Watching, waiting and wondering as he muses the morning after it begins. Written in response to a request by Rorudesuchan.


Disclaimer: Written for Entertainment Purposes Only.  
A/N: This is in response to a request given by Rorudesuchan a couple months back. I am sorry for it taking so long, sweetie.

Custodis is Latin for "watchman, guard or spy".

_**Custodis**_

Appearances can be deceiving. He should know this more than most, given that he has practiced the art of deception for most of his life. A deception conceived from resentment and loathing and he continues to do it masterfully. It is no wonder, seeing as he has had nothing _but_ time, to perfect the illusion of an image that is not his true reflection. Not to mention the fact that it helps that nobody sees him as nothing but a punk kid who's been nothing but spoiled and pampered and completely _talentless_. So it should not be such a great surprise that someone else would play the same con. Someone who, from all appearances sake, seemed to be in a similar situation as him. The surprise comes, not from the realization that someone else could be just as good as he, but that there was someone that could fool _him_ with such a fraud. It makes him reflective and more than a little irked.

So irked, in fact, that he finds himself doing the tedious task of standing outside a multi-leveled carpark instead of doing something a little more conducive to his plans. Plans which do not include spying on a certain Tenebrean princess that he had only just met the night before. It confused and baffled him that he had not felt an inkling of hostility within her when they had been conversing. He knows that he usually has a pretty good read on people, but for some reason, it had not come so easily to him about her. She whose smile had so easily unraveled him when no other pretty face had the ability was aggravating and enticing all at once. Pretty faces were not an unusual sight to a prince and hers had been one of many in attendance at the previous night's dinner party. Yet, her beauty had struck him from the start. Struck him dumb, he thinks, or else it would not have been possible to blind side him so embarrassingly. How the others would no doubt laugh at him when they found out made him want to wince. Not that he could blame them either. He would rag on any one of them for being such a fool too.

Beautiful image of femininity aside, the words from her lips and the voice in which they were delivered had captivated him. Even as unwilling a captive as he had been, she had ensnared him just the same. He had never felt such an instant connection to someone that was not entirely based on physical attraction. Physical attraction was frivolous. He was a guy. That was nothing special. This had been different. The kind of connection he had felt towards her was something more profound. It was like something deeply buried within himself that she also kept buried within her. He should have stopped himself from approaching her. He should have stopped himself from staring at her for so long. Most of all, he should have stopped himself before he had opened his mouth at all. He was usually so good at the silent glare or aloof silence, but not with her. She had the ability to bring things out of him. She also could drag the shyness out of him too. Even when she made him feel a little bit shy at the same time. Her very presence made him feel how much of an introvert he had become.

That instant connection had made him feel a certain newness that he has never really had in his life. A newness that was refreshing in a world where change was something evil. Evil like the sacrifice that his father had made. A sacrifice that he did not understand and did not _dare_ to contemplate now. One thing at a time and this was the time to keep watch over the princess who has tripped him over and caught him off guard with no more effort than simply breathing.

All this effort to spy on her was really unbecoming and he stupid standing here like an idiot while waiting for some sign of life. Waiting for some sign that his suspicions were justified. Surveillance was never fun and if anyone caught him standing here so idly against a picket fence, they would probably have him picked up and ushered back to the castle for temporary insanity. Because this _was_ insanity. Which was also his nature too if they were all completely being honest. His family could not justifiably ever be in their right minds as they ruled Nihilsomo for this long. So, it was only natural for him to find something to suspect her of. If he had not been suspicious of her when he could talk to her like an inexperienced school boy, he definitely did now. Her timing was just too impeccable. What were the chances that the moment she had walked away from him, there was a jet crashing into the observation tower?

He did not believe in coincidences and he sure was not going to start just for her sake. He had been looking up at the light and caught a glimpse of the, too quickly approaching jet and... which leads him to what bothers him the most. That within that moment of reaction, his first thought had been to run over to make sure that she did not get flattened by the jet. She, a stranger, had give him enough worry that he had tried to warn her from the approaching danger. Now, _that_ was more cause for concern as far as he could admit. When his more rational and cynical nature had taken hold, he could find no other reason for her to run off at that exact moment other than that she had _known_ it was coming all along.

_Idiot. Moron. Simpleton. Fool!_

A heavy disappointed sigh escapes his lips as the sounds of a car reaches his ears. His dreary eyes widen at the sound and his head turns to catch the sight of the car as it makes its swirling way down the spiral ramp of the parking lot.

Surveillance is over.

Now it was time for some recon.


End file.
